Unexpected Ties Lead to Publication

When Daisy ’20 agreed to write an article on efforts to alleviate climate change, she had no idea her research would point to her family. Daisy was selected by Rod (Jake) Jacobsen as one of three News-Decoder ambassadors for the year.* Jacobsen has designed an xBlock course, Global Studies: Focus on Climate Change, around Thacher’s News-Decoder theme for this year—climate change. As part of the course, the students followed the recent Global Climate Action Summit online. In his closing remarks for the event, California Governor Jerry Brown spoke about the state’s initiative to launch a satellite capable of detecting the “point source” of climate pollutants, beginning with methane emissions. As the governor spoke about project funding, Daisy’s interest was piqued when she heard a familiar name, Richard Lawrence, Jr. A call to her father verified that his brother is, indeed, the person Brown was referring to. And a call to her uncle led to an interview and in-depth article on the project.

“During the summit, many speakers said that high school students need to get involved in these global issues. So, my uncle was excited when I called to ask about the project,” said Daisy. Mr. Lawrence is the founder of Overlook International Foundation, which seeks to have a significant, measurable impact on climate change mitigation. Daisy’s pride in her uncle’s commitment to combat climate change was apparent as she spoke of his involvement with this project, “He believed that this tracking had to be done, so he kickstarted the funding and got other organizations and people to contribute.”

Daisy used the phone interview with her uncle as the basis for an article that News-Decoder published on its site this month. In collaboration with two other News-Decoder partner schools, King’s Academy in Amman, Jordan and Friend’s Seminar in New York city , the xBlock class will present a webinar on climate change, in early December. Keep an eye out, on social media, for a link to the recording when it becomes available.

The Global Studies xBlock is part of a number of activities associated with the Marvin H. Shagam Global Citizenship and Ethics Initiative and the Greatest Good Leadership initiative funded by the The Next Peak Capital Campaign. The aim is to help Thacher students develop awareness and fluency with global issues and provide them with opportunities to develop leadership skills on and off campus.

*News-Decoder is known as a trustworthy not-for-profit news service and forum for young people around the world. It is part of a French not-for-profit (association loi de 1901) called Nouvelles-Découvertes whose mission is to inform young people around the world about international relations “with tolerance, objectivity, and broad vision.”